Meet Jedd Fisch

This photo taken Oct. 21, 2017, shows UCLA offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch, left, talking with quarterback Josh Rosen, center, and head coach Jim Mora during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Oregon in Pasadena, Calif. Fisch is UCLA's head coach for the week after Jim Mora's surprise firing, and he's hoping to extend that gig for at least another month. The veteran offensive coordinator has been promoted for the Bruins' season finale against California, and Fisch hopes to honor Mora's legacy with a win that would make UCLA bowl-eligible. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

A name likely recognizable by only the most die-hard brand of college football fans, Jedd Fisch has become a coach worth knowing as Jeff Long, athletic director at the University of Kansas, continues in his search for the football program’s next head coach.

This week, the Los Angeles Rams are practicing at the Air Force Academy’s facilities, just north of Colorado Springs.

Fisch currently works for the Rams as a senior offensive assistant.

And there is more to this than connecting dots and making assumptions.

On the same day Long flew on KU’s private jet to Colorado Springs, Angelique Chengelis, who covers Michigan football for the Detroit News, tweeted out that she was “hearing” KU is considering Fisch for its head coaching vacancy.

Back before Fisch worked as UCLA’s offensive coordinator — and, eventually, interim head coach — in 2017, he spent two seasons as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks/wide receivers coach at the University of Michigan.

Hearing Kansas is considering former Michigan pass-game coordinator Jedd Fisch for its HC job. Fisch was interim HC at UCLA and currently is senior offensive assistant of the Rams which has the No. 1-ranked offense in the NFL.

What’s more, Jon Kirby of Jayhawk Slant has had Fisch on his KU coaching hot board for more than a week.

On Wednesday evening, CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd reported Long and Fisch met this week about the vacancy.

So who is Jedd Fisch?

Fisch, 42, doesn’t fit Long’s publicly stated preference for a candidate with head coaching experience at the college level.

Before joining the Rams, Fisch, then the offensive coordinator at UCLA, served as the program’s interim head coach for two games to close out the 2017 season. The Bruins defeated Cal and then suffered a 35-17 loss to Kansas State in the Cactus Bowl. And that’s the end of his head coaching résumé — 1-1.

However, as an assistant, Fisch has worked for a long list of successful head coaches, both with Power Five programs and NFL franchises, including Steve Spurrier, Dom Capers, Brian Billick, Mike Shanahan, Pete Carroll, Jim Harbaugh and others.

Fisch also has worked as the offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars at the NFL level and both Miami and Minnesota at the college level.

Long admitted on the day he announced he would not retain David Beaty as KU’s football coach that he couldn’t rule out the possibility of hiring a coordinator with “demonstrated” potential as Beaty’s replacement.

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